Installation

Requirements

Requirement	What for	How to install it
macOS with Xcode	Everything. The server uses xcrun simctl.	App Store and xcode-select --install
Node.js 20 or later	Running the server.	brew install node
idb (optional)	Only the ui_* tools.	See Installing idb

macOS only

The iOS Simulator does not exist on Windows or Linux. On those systems the server starts and publishes its tools, but every call returns [UNSUPPORTED_PLATFORM].

Download and build

git clone https://github.com/s-pl/ios-simulator-mcp.git
cd ios-simulator-mcp
npm install

npm install also builds the project into dist/.

Register the server

Claude Code

From the project folder:

claude mcp add ios-simulator -- node "$(pwd)/dist/index.js"

Check that it is connected with claude mcp list, or with /mcp inside a session.

Claude Desktop and other clients

Add the server to the client's configuration file. For Claude Desktop that is ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ios-simulator": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/ios-simulator-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Installing idb

simctl cannot inject touches or read what is on screen, so the ui_* tools use idb, from Meta. The rest of the server works without it.

brew tap facebook/fb
brew install idb-companion
pipx install fb-idb

If Homebrew refuses the formula because it comes from an untrusted tap, run brew trust facebook/fb first.

The server talks to idb_companion directly, so the Python client (fb-idb) is optional: it is only used as a fallback when the direct connection cannot be established.

The client cannot find idb

Desktop applications do not inherit your terminal's PATH. If the ui_* tools answer [EXECUTABLE_NOT_FOUND], give the full path through the IOS_SIMULATOR_MCP_IDB_PATH variable. You get it with which idb. See Configuration.